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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday lifted restrictions on Mastercard Asia and allowed it to add new customers to its network.
In an order on July 14, 2021, the central bank had imposed restrictions on Mastercard Asia / Pacific Pte from on-boarding new domestic customers (debit, credit or prepaid) onto its card network for non-compliance with RBI’s norms on storage of payment system data.
“In view of the satisfactory compliance demonstrated by Mastercard Asia / Pacific Pte. Ltd. with the Reserve Bank of India …on Storage of Payment System Data, the restrictions imposed…on on-boarding of new domestic customers have been lifted with immediate effect,” the central bank said in a statement.
Mastercard is a payment system operator authorised to operate a card network in the country under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act).
Under the Act, RBI had directed all system operators in India to ensure that entire data relating to payment systems operated by them is stored in India. The platforms were given six months to adhere to these norms.
The directive was issued by the Reserve Bank on April 6, 2018. They were also required to report compliance to RBI and submit a board-approved System Audit Report conducted by a CERT-In empanelled auditor within specified timelines.
Mastercard, in a statement, said, “We welcome and are grateful for today’s decision by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), enabling us to resume onboarding of new domestic customers (debit, credit and prepaid) onto our card network in the country, with immediate effect. As we have in our engagement with the RBI, we reaffirm our commitment to support the digital needs of India, its people and its businesses.”
“We are glad we have met this milestone and will continue to ensure ongoing delivery against the goals and regulatory requirements that have been established. India is an important market for us, both in terms of the innovation created here and the value we deliver to our customers and partners,” the company added.
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